There are a lot of people who make Sewing With Nancy happen. From the Sewing With Nancy staff in Beaver Dam, WI to the crew at Wisconsin Public TV, around 20 people are involved. As the saying goes, many hands make light of work!

One of the engineers on the crew, Lynn DeRolf, usually concentrates her efforts on lighting the set. Recently she asked if I’d save selvages from fabrics as she and her mom were working on a selvage block quilt. I’ve never made a selvage block quilt, so I thought you’d like to learn along with me how to do so from a crew member, friend, and fellow stitcher. Thanks Lynn for documenting your quilting process!

Guest blogger Lynn DeRolf

Making Selvage Blocks

Quilts made with the selvage edge of fabric have been gaining popularity over the past few years. The first time I heard of it, I thought, “No way!” I was always taught that you CAN’T sew with the selvage edge because it’s denser than the rest of the fabric, and therefore it stretches differently. Keep reading to find out how it works.

Your first challenge is gathering enough selvage edges to get started. Since I don’t sew a lot, I asked my family, my local quilt guild, and sewing professionals in my area to donate their leftover selvage edges to me. Strips that are at least an inch wide are easiest to work with in selvage quilting, but you can use strips that are narrower. Many quilters (myself included) are in the habit of trimming very close to the selvage to utilize as much fabric as possible, leaving very narrow selvage strips. It takes some practice to remember to leave them wider.

Once I gathered a good stash of selvage strips, I sorted the wider strips from narrower ones, and then sorted by color. I wanted to have similar colors together in my quilt blocks, but any combination of colors can create a fun, scrappy effect.

The key to sewing with the selvage edge is simple: a foundation fabric. This keeps the quilt as a whole from stretching and bunching in unwanted ways. Today I’m using muslin as my foundation fabric, but you can also use any cotton “uglies” in your stash. Essentially, all of the selvage strips are appliquéd onto the foundation fabric, each strip overlapping the previous one. Since the exposed edge of the selvage is woven very tightly, you don’t need to worry about it fraying. As you’ll see, all of the “raw” edges are hidden and secured inside each block.

I cut my foundation fabric to the size of the block I want. I fussy-cut the selvage so the dots are roughly centered on my foundation fabric, cutting it a little wider than the muslin.

Then, I sew the first selvage onto the muslin, pretty close to the edge of the selvage. I purposely leave a scant 1/4″ of the muslin exposed so that when this block is joined with another block in the quilt the colored dots are not completely hidden inside the seam allowance. For this block I used contrasting thread so that you can see it easily, but typically I use matching thread.

As you can see, I trim and place the second selvage strip on top of the first one, which is securely attached to the muslin. With these nice wide strips, I’m easily able to overlap by 1/2″, but an eighth of an inch is all you really need. The wider your overlap, the more flexibility you have if the fabric shifts a little as you’re sewing. The overlapping is important so that you only have to sew once to secure both pieces of selvage to your foundation fabric.

I continue overlapping and sewing until I cover up all the muslin. The selvage at the top extends past the muslin block, which is fine.

Notice that the third strip from the bottom has a fuzzy edge on it. That’s the way this particular piece of fabric is constructed, and it is secure, despite its appearance. I like the way it looks, so I accentuated it by placing the white frayed edge over a dark background.

I trimmed the block down to the original size of the foundation fabric.

And, that’s one block done!

Variations:

I had some selvages where the pattern of the fabric went all the way to the edge. To create some contrast, I alternated the “wrong” side of the selvage with the “right” side. I also put the square on-point before attaching the selvage strips.

I ended up needing two different edges to finish the square, so I chose an edge that used the same pattern in a different color, and continued alternating the “right” and “wrong” sides.

I completed a third block with much narrower strips of selvage edge, fussy cutting to get interesting words onto the block. This one was the most challenging, as several times I missed sewing on the small overlapping area and had to rip out my stitching, reposition, and re-sew. When sewing strips with very narrow overlapping areas, I recommend checking after every seam to make sure you catch some of the previous strip in your stitching.

All three blocks turned out great! There are lots of options of how to incorporate blocks made from selvage into your quilting. You can sew blocks directly to each other, but be warned that you’ll have a very thick seam. To avoid this you can place a small border of cotton fabric between each block of muslin and selvage. Alternatively, you can use selvage just in the border, or as an accent in a pieced quilt. It’s all up to you!

Now that you know the basics, search the Internet for selvage quilting projects, and get inspired to start your own!

Wonderful. I use interfacing without the glue and then put Pritt on the back of the salvages and glue it onto the interfacing, and then I meander (squigle) over the salvages. It looks beautiful. But your method seems easier. Thank you. Marika

HanneloreAugust 22, 2013

Incredible ,, yes , I will make a bag eventually , ,,, fabric softer sheets ? How so ?

AliceJuly 10, 2013

Love this tutorial and project ideas. Only problem is – I am running out of selvages. Someone mentioned that bags of selvages are available for sale somewhere. Do you have any idea where, Nancy? BIG thanks.

Barbara PalmatierJanuary 10, 2013

Great idea Lynn. I saw an add in a magizine which was a teaser to get you to buy that magazine. They made make up bags with them and it did not show any instructions. Thanks for yours they are so easy to follow. I asked the ladies at our quilting guild to keep salvage edges for me and they looked at me like I was crazy. It is funny how we get an idea in our heads and it is hard to change it. I agree with Sheila ….I have tossed so many pretty edges out in the past and am kickng myself now. I thought there should be something I could do with those edges. Thanks so much for your instructions. I can now make a square and show the girls so they know what I mean. This will be fun.

Sheila PerlJanuary 8, 2013

Thank you so much, Lynn! A great tutorial! I have been saving my selvage edges and wasn’t sure just what I was going to do with them!! But I never even thought of saving the edges that have the fabric printed all the way to the edge :/ Can you imagine all the selvage I have wasted? LOL!

Claude N. ArfarasJanuary 8, 2013

You’ve out done yourself this time again! Took the impossible and made it look easy! Nancy you are an International Treasure and we love you here in Florida. It was an excellent show for a regular viewer like me! A non sewing Nancy Fan. It couldn’t have been done any better! Magnificent program and I share you with my family and friends in Europe. They can’t get the quality of Nancy at home. I can’t wait to see what’s next……

Virginia WentworthJanuary 8, 2013

Interesting concept. I appreciate the “waste not want not” idea. But I would have enjoyed seeing a completed quilt using this technique.

Donna FJanuary 8, 2013

i had heard that you should save the selvages and that there were “projects” out there that could use them. This is great.

I made a scrappy quilt top last year piecing the twin top for only $1. I used unwanted fabric for the foundation fabric. However, I have since learned one can use fabric softer sheets, as they are made from interfacing. I keep a ziplock baggy by my dryer, fold and store my used fabric sheets in there for future use. Love the selved edge idea. Y
your article was very fun to read. MJ